Karen's Profile

The One Where We Go Away Overnight

Load the car and write the note Grab your bag and grab your coat Tell the ones that need to know We are headed north.... I know you guys are sick and tired of hearing about all our exciting vacations... Continue reading

Posted Jun 9, 2013 at verbatim

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Take Five

I'm swamped with work—some cool stuff I'll tell you about soon enough—and busy with all the kids' end-of-year stuff, but here are a few choice tidbits to tide you over until I have time to compose a proper post: 1.... Continue reading

Posted Jun 5, 2013 at verbatim

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Can You Say Satay?

Last night I tried a new recipe that played to mostly positive reviews (Pete wasn't so nutty about the peanutty sauce, but he liked the steak). The kids couldn't believe I had bought ramen noodles, but I assured them that... Continue reading

Posted May 29, 2013 at verbatim

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Lunch Lady

I don't go out to lunch all that often, but it seems as though lately I have been able to try quite a few new places. To wit: 1. I've been twice to the Farmstead Table. The first time I... Continue reading

Posted May 23, 2013 at verbatim

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One Mitzvah Leads to Another

Yesterday was Mitzvah Day, which is when our temple congregation comes together in a day of community service. Although the Hebrew word mitzvah translates to "commandment," it's usually used to refer to a good deed; indeed, good deeds are required... Continue reading

Posted May 20, 2013 at verbatim

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Silver White Winters That Melt into Springs*

*As Mark pointed out last time, this is the last line of "My Favorite Things," but that doesn't mean that this will be the last list of my favorite things. I'll just have to think of some clever new way... Continue reading

Posted May 16, 2013 at verbatim

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Books

Last Friday Barbara invited me to the library's annual author luncheon, which this year featured William Landay, author of Defending Jacob (which I reviewed here) and Randy Susan Meyers, author of The Comfort of Lies. Both are extremely pleasant and... Continue reading

Posted May 14, 2013 at verbatim

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Chance Meeting

A few weeks ago I had a really nice copyediting project. It’s a memoir called A Thousand Hills to Heaven, written by a man named Josh Ruxin, who goes with his wife Alissa to Rwanda to help set up new... Continue reading

Posted May 12, 2013 at verbatim

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Snowflakes That Stay on My Nose and Eyelashes

These are a few of my favorite things: 1. The Dropkick Murphys are played a lot in Boston anyhow, but especially right after the Boston Marathon bombing. I only just learned that the lyrics to "I'm Shipping Up to Boston"... Continue reading

Posted May 3, 2013 at verbatim

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Milestones

I mentioned that Pete turned 14 a couple of weeks ago, which is of course impossible because he's still 4 in my mind. He's just a really tall 4-year-old. Even more impossible: I turned 51 the following week, even though... Continue reading

Posted May 1, 2013 at verbatim

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Disturbing Book and Movie Week

After all the recent stress, you'd think that I'd have gravitated toward some fluff to entertain me, but you'd be wrong. People kept telling me to read Defending Jacob by William Landay, not necessarily because they thought it was such... Continue reading

Posted Apr 26, 2013 at verbatim

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Sh-Sh-Sh-Shattered

On Saturday I had just gotten onto Route 128, driving Julie to her soccer game, when suddenly there was a huge THUNK on the roof. I looked up at my sunroof, which was covered in spiderweb-like cracks—completely shattered. I don't... Continue reading

Posted Apr 25, 2013 at verbatim

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Aftermath

I don't need to tell you anything you've seen on the news fifty times already or can easily Google. Instead I'll tell you what went on here, in my home and in my family, in my heart and in my... Continue reading

Posted Apr 22, 2013 at verbatim

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Safe

I'm nowhere near ready to post any kind of coherent thoughts about what happened yesterday, but enough people have contacted me to check in that I figured I should at least let you all know that everyone Chez Verbatim is... Continue reading

Posted Apr 16, 2013 at verbatim

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Girls in White Dresses with Blue Satin Sashes

A few of my favorite things: Check out these 8 bizarre sounds you've made without realizing it, and the foreign languages that use them. If you want to do this the fun way, read the text and try to make... Continue reading

Posted Apr 12, 2013 at verbatim

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Like you and some others who've commented above, I clipped the recipe in the NYT last year but never made it. But your rave review has sold me -- I am going to invite some people over just so I can have an excuse to make this!

Commented Apr 10, 2013 on Bo Ssam with Ssam Sauce and Garlic-Scallion Sauce at The Bitten Word

Two Books, One Movie, Zero Thumbs Up*

Book #1: Ben Ryder Howe's memoir My Korean Deli details a couple of years in his life when he and his wife and mother-in-law bought a "deli," which is apparently how New Yorkers refer to all convenience stores (which I... Continue reading

Posted Apr 8, 2013 at verbatim

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Steak Night

Last night I tried a new steak marinade I found at Leite's Culinaria. It's Korean-style, although it's not authentic bulgogi. I had everything I needed on hand except for the Coke and the steaks. I did three boneless ribeyes and... Continue reading

Posted Apr 4, 2013 at verbatim

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New Recipe Success!

I've mentioned before that we are not big fish eaters around here, but I've been trying to rectify that a bit. And that includes shellfish, which, while not as good for you as fish, can still be a pretty good... Continue reading

Posted Apr 3, 2013 at verbatim

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Kid Updates, Briefly

Steph got a job as a junior counselor at a local day camp for the summer! She will be with the 4-year-olds, which was her first pick. The only problem is that counselor orientation is June 19–21, and then camp... Continue reading

Posted Mar 28, 2013 at verbatim

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Wild Geese That Fly with the Moon on Their Wings

It's been a while since I posted a compendium of my "favorite things," so here goes: Marching infants! Extreme prenatal genetic testing Massachusetts is having a very Massachusetts fight over its official state rock song. (I'm firmly in the "Roadrunner"... Continue reading

Posted Mar 26, 2013 at verbatim

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I'll go with the most recent rather than the most glaring (which I've repressed anyhow): In a cookbook I edited last month, the steps for a particular recipe were numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5. The author missed it, the development editor missed it, I missed it, and the proofreader missed it.

Commented Mar 25, 2013 on Copyeditor Confessions: Me First at The Subversive Copy Editor Blog

Two Movies in the Meantime

At some point during The Time When I Was Too Busy to Blog, I did manage to watch two movies with my kids. First, we all watched Moneyball. So, you got yer baseball, and you got yer Brad Pitt. To... Continue reading

Posted Mar 22, 2013 at verbatim

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Deadlines: Made 'em!

I'm back! As any freelancer knows, you take work when it comes, and sometimes it all comes at once. And sometimes, despite careful scheduling, one project comes later than expected and/or is needed back earlier than expected, and then the... Continue reading

Posted Mar 21, 2013 at verbatim

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Postcard from the Comma Mines

Hi everyone, I have a million tiny things to tell you (no, nothing earth-shattering) but am instead killing myself to make two—count 'em, two!—big deadlines on Monday. See you on Tuesday! Love and miss you, Karen Continue reading

Posted Mar 13, 2013 at verbatim

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